Automatic engine-stop



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-'Sheet 1.

A. K. BONTA.

AUTOMATIC ENGINE STOP. No. 569,445. Patented Oct. 13, 1896.

WITNESSE: r INVEN 0 n. L U

AT RNEY No Model. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2; A. K. BONTA.

AUTOMATIC ENGINE STOP.

No. 569,445. Patented Oct. 13, 1896.

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Th5 mm:

UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR K. BONTA, OF HOBOKEN, NE? JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE BONTA MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEIV JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC ENGINE-STOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,445, dated October 13, 1896.

Application filed January 27, 1896. Serial No. 576,930. No model.)

To all whom it may concern: I have shown a pipe a leading to a casing Be it known that I, ARTHUR K. BONTA, a Z), containing a piston attached to rod 1),

citizen of the United States, residing at 110- which in turn operates the valve 12 supplyboken, in the county of Hudson and State of ing steam to the pump. A fall of pressure 5 New Jersey, have invented certain new and in the tank allows the piston to drop and useful Improvements in Automatic Engineopen the valve to start the pump. V hen the Stops, of which the following is a full, clear, pressure reaches the normal point, the piston and exact description. raises and closes the valve.

This lnvention is an automatic engine-stop From the tank a trunk-line of pipingc leads :0 utilizing in 1ts operation compressed air. through the power-house in any manner found The object of the invention is to equip a most expedient. Its distant end will usually power plant with apparatus which will autobe blind. From this trunk-line branches matically immediately stop the driving motor (2 d, &c., lead off to the various cut-01f valves or motors whenever any of the elements of or switches which supply steam or other fluid 15 the apparatus become deranged or act in an to the engines or motors of the plant.

abnormal manner to such an extent as to en- Fig. lindicates three engines, the fiy-wheels danger the plant or the lives of those operat- E E IE only being shown, and in Fig. 2 one ing it. of the valves bywhich steam is cut off from The principle of the automatic fluid-presthe engines is shown. Adjacent to each valve 20 sure train-brake is utilized to a certain exis suitably supported a casing e in the form tent in carrying out this invention, in that a of a bowl, being closed across the top by a leakage or break in the system of piping rubber or other flexible diaphragme. A through which the air-pressure is transmitted branch pipe d supplies air-pressure to the would result in stopping the motor or engine. bowl. The diaphragm is attached to an arm 25 My invention comprehends the combinaf, pivoted at f and provided on its free end tion of one or more engines or motors, an auwith a segment of gear f engaging with a tomatic air-compressor, an air-reservoir, a wheel g, fixed to the projecting end of the system of piping leading from the reservoir shaft g of a butterfly-valve g located in to air-motors connected with the cut-ofi valves the steam-supply pipe of the engine. Upon 0 of the engines or motors, and also leading to this shaft is also fixed an arm 77,, carrying a air-motors which may be necessary for operweight h, normally elevated to a position ating other controlling devices, and one or where it may lower when released to rotate more devices adapted to be automatically opthe valve-shaft and close the valve. erated when any serious derangement or ab- From the bowl 6 one or more exhaustpipes 35 normal operation of the power plant takes ilead. These pipesare comparatively much place to render active the said air-motors, and larger than the supply branch pipes d. They thus enable them to control the engines or are to be provided with various forms of airmotors. releasing devices, which will now be referred The details of construction in which the to. One form will be an ordinary cock to be 40 invention is embodied also form a portion of operated by hand, as shown at j, to be inmy invention. serted either at the blind end or in the line Referring to the accompanying drawings, of the pipe wherever it may be conveniently 9 5 Figure 1 is a diagrammatical plan of the apreached and at as many points as desired. paratus constituting my invention. Fi 2 Another form is shown in Fig. 3, and consists 5 is a detail of a motor and valve operated of a tube or bulb 70 of fragile material comthereby. Fig. 3 is a detail of an air-releasing municating freely with the pipe to which it device. Fig. i is a diagram illustrating how is attached, but normally sealing the pipe. the various lines of air apparatus may be These tubes or bulbs are preferably of glass thrown into and out of operation. and are adapted to be broken by a blow de 50 The system comprises an air-storage tank livered by hand or by a part of the moving A, in which the pressure is maintained unimachinery when disarranged, and thereby form by a steam-pump B, automatically conpermitting the escape of air from the pipe '2', trolled in any manner. to which they are connected.

In Fig. l I have shown a number of these tubes placed adjacent to the fly-wheels of the engines in such positions that if the belt starts to run ofi the wheel it will come in contact with one of them; or if a lap in a joint of the belt should lift it would strike a tube. The tubes might also be similarly located with respect to the belts driven from the counter-shafting. A tube might be placed adjacent to the balls of a centrifugal device similar to the ordinary governor, so that when the speed becomes too great the balls will strike and destroy the tube.

The operation of the devices will be readily understood. Whenever any of the air-releasing devices 1: are destroyed or a cock j is opened, the air escapes from'the bowl e much faster than it can enter it from the tank A, and so the diaphragm yields to the weight it, permitting the latter to swing downward and close the main steam-supply pipe of the engine.

In engines with which a jet-condenser is used it is necessary to admit air into the exhaust-pipe or into the condenser when the supply of steam is thus cut off from the engine, in order to prevent the engine, which continues to run by its inertia, from pumping the water from the condenser into the enginecylinder, and to do this my invention comprehends a valve Z, controlling communication between the atmosphere and the exhaustpipe of the engine, and an airmotor 'm of substantially the same description as those used in connection with the steam-cnt-offi valves. The bowl n of the motor connects with one of the pipes i, so that when an exhaust takes place from any of said pipes the vacuum of the condenser will be broken at about the same time that the steam is cut off.

It will be understood that the release of air at any point only affects the engine which is driving the part or elementresponsible for the release and therefore any number of engines may be controlled from one st0ragetank and trunk-pipe.

In large power plants where more than one engine is used it is customary to provide a main shaft, to which any number of the engines may be clutched, and one or more counter-shafts,anyn umber of which may be geared to the load. Consequently it becomes desirable to provide means for making only those portions of the air system operative as apply to the engine or engines that are running at any given time. I have provided such means in the form of a switchboard or central stat-ion, where are located various cut-off valves to be manipulated by an operator to accomplish the result referred to. This is illustrated in Fig. 4. The exhaust-pipes i from the air-motors e of each engine lead, respectively, to three small tanks 19, p, and p and from each of these tanks a number of pipes 2" lead to the several groups of moving elements, transmitting motion to the respective parts into which the load upon the plant is divided. Pipes i are equipped with cutoit valves *3, and pipes i with valves 2' If only one engine is running, all of the valves 2' are closed except the one corresponding to the engine in use, and if more than one engine is running the valves 1 corresponding to the active engines only are open. If one engine is driving the entire load, the three pipes 2" leading from the tank 13, p, or p will all be open. If it is driving only one or more sections of the load, then the corresponding pipes 2" will be open while the others are closed, and so various changes can be made at the switchboard to make the working portion of the apparatus correspond at all times with the working portion of the power plant.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. An automatic engine-stop consisting of an air-motor adapted to operate a cut-0E valve of the engine in combination with a source of air supply acting through the motor to hold the valve open and a pipe or pipes leading from the motor to a point or points adjacent to the moving parts driven by the engine, and air-releasing devices located at such points and adapted to be operated by such part when deranged, substantially as described.

2. In an automatic engine-stop, the combination of an air-storage tank, means for maintaining a constant pressure therein, a trunk-line of pipe extending from the tank, a plurality of engines, a plurality of air-motors, one for controlling the cut-off valve of each engine, branch pipes leading from said trunk-pipe to eachair-motor and supplying air-pressure thereto to hold the cut-01f valves open, normally-closed exhaust-pipes leading from the air-motors to points adjacent to the moving parts of the engine or machine driven thereby and air-releasing devices in said exhaust-pipes adapted to be operated by the moving parts of the engine or machinery driven thereby, substantially as described.

3. Apneumatic system for stopping the motors or engine of apower plant, the same consisting of a number of air-motors respectively actuating the controlling-valves of the motor or engines, exhaust-pipes leading from said air-motors to a switchboard and from the switchboard to various air-releasing devices and valves in the pipes at the switchboard whereby any portion of the system maybe made operative at will, substantially as de=- scribed.

In testimony whereof I subscribe my signar2 5 ture in presence of two Witnesses.

ARTHUR K. BONTA.

\Vitnesses 2 FRANK S. OBER, WM. A. ROSENBAUM. 

